Just Another Day In Paradise
by Hollyleaf The Black Cat
Summary: After all that's happened the Avengers decide to hit the beach for a well-earned vacation. When Steve notices that Natasha doesn't feel comfortable there for some reason, he tries to cheer her up but what happens when it leads to something more? Is this vacation going to be just another day in paradise?
1. Just Another Vacation

**Author's Note: **Hello all, it's me again and you are about to read my newest chapter fic, _Just Another Day In Paradise. _It's a CapWidow fic and I came up with the idea after the part where [SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN CAP 2] Natasha shows Steve the scar on her abdomen and says she can't wear bikinis anymore and he sarcastically says that he's sure she looks awful in them now. [END SPOILERS] Anyway so yeah this is my first Avengers fic and my first CapWidow fic so I'm sorry if it's terrible or if anyone OOC. I try really hard to make it good but I don't really think I'm a good writer. But it's fun and I felt really good about this idea so yeah this fic is born. Anyway, here it is Chapter 1: "Just Another Vacation". (OH and if you haven't seen Cap 2 yet you HAVE to go watch it! It's probably my favorite Marvel movie yet, behind the Avengers though.)

* * *

Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, hadn't been to the beach since World War II. Of course **that** hadn't been an enjoyable trip, but this week was going to be, or at least he hoped it would. Stark had decided it was time for the Avengers to go on a vacation and everyone agreed that they deserved one. What with the one year anniversary of the whole incident in New York coming up and the whole S.H.E.I.L.D./Hydra incident just happening a few months ago, Steve had to admit that he was tired out.

He set the cooler down in the sand a looked around. It was one of Stark's private beaches, with water as clear as a diamond and sand so white and soft it was like walking on a pillow. Ah, the things money can buy.

Sam Wilson, or Falcon as everyone was now calling him, came up behind Steve carrying two beach umbrellas. He was wearing olive green swim trunks. "Man, now **this **is a vacation spot. Clean, uncrowded, and relaxing," Sam said as he stuck one umbrella in the ground and stretched. "I am so ready for this vacation! Stark told me he made me a new flight suit and I think I'll go flying over the ocean."

Steve laughed as he pulled a water bottle out of the cooler, "Just don't fall in. We don't have anyone with any kind of aqua powers on the team."

"Yet," said Sam, setting up the second umbrella.

"Yet," agreed Steve, looking around the beach as the rest of their group began to arrive. First, came Tony, dressed in red swim trunks, alongside Pepper, who was in a gold bikini and matching sunhat. He was whispering in her ear and she laughed as she adjusted her beach bag.

Then, came Clint in grey swim trucks along with Fury in a black T-shirt and black swim trunks and Maria in a navy blue one piece swimsuit. Clint and Fury both were carrying two beach chairs in each arm and Maria had another cooler with the S.H.E.I.L.D. logo on the lid. All three had serious looks on their faces but Steve was pretty sure that they were excited on the inside.

Finally coming up the rear was Bruce who was wearing purple swim trucks. He carried the final two umbrellas which he handed to Steve when he joined the group. Steve stuck them in the ground and then began helping Clint set the chairs up under them, two chairs per umbrella. Steve looked back up at the beach house one more time to see where the one missing Avenger was but she didn't come over the small hill. He turned to Clint and asked, "Where's Natasha?"

Clint pointed up to the beach house. "Said she didn't feel like coming down now but she may be down later. She said she just felt like a nap after that plane ride."

Steve looked back at the beach house as he finished putting the last chair up. _Maybe I'll go check on her. _But thinking about how she would probably just shrug him off and tell him to go, tell him she was fine, he decided to wait. _If she doesn't come down soon __**then **__I'll go check on her. _With one last look at the beach house he quickly turned around to begin his vacation.

Pepper and Maria quickly sat down in the beach chairs. Maria remained under the umbrella, looking like she was reading a book but you could see her eyes continuously looking around the beach, searching to see if anything was out of place. Pepper moved her chair out into the sun to tan and pulled out a tablet. You could see the files pulled up and knew that she just couldn't stop working, but if you were CEO of Stark Industries then you probably wouldn't have time to stop working, even on vacation.

Bruce took a seat in the sand under another umbrella and began feverishly applying sunscreen to himself.

Steve looked over and saw Sam talking to Tony and then go running up to the beach house. He assumed that he was about to go for a flight.

Steve walked over to Tony, Fury, and Clint and noticed Tony was holding a volleyball. "Rogers you want to play a game?" he asked holding up the ball. Steve shook his head. "Sure Stark. What are the teams?"

"I call Cap!" shouted Clint.

"Damn it, Clint," began Tony, "Fury is going to have to keep turning to see where the balls coming from." Tony put his hand over his left eye and began turning around in a circle. Clint and Steve couldn't help but laugh a bit but Fury seemed unamused.

"I'd watch it, Stark. S.H.E.I.L.D. may not be around anymore but I've still got people who could be ready to take you out in a second." Everyone gave a quick glance to Maria who was looking down into her book.

"Alright well let's get started. Legolas and Stars n' Stripes can serve first." And so the game began.

The day continued on and Clint and Steve were racking up the wins, though because of what Steve and Clint called a ball call, Tony and Fury won one. After that they asked Bruce to be ref and then when Sam returned he switched out with Fury and got to play a few games. Finally they all took a quick break.

As Steve pulled his water back out of the cooler to finish it off, he looked back up at the beach house. Natasha still hadn't come down. "Hey Bruce, what time is it?" he asked.

"Almost 1," he replied looking at his watch.

They had arrived at about 10. That meant Natasha had been up there for about 3 hours, certainly enough time for a nap. "Hey I'll be right back guys," he shouted as he began jogging to the beach house.

When he arrived at the giant doors he had to do a retina scan. Tony had said it was to make sure that everyone who came there was who they said they were and not a part of a race of alien shapeshifters, but Steve was pretty sure he was just joking about that last part.

As he entered the house he quickly hoped on the elevator to head up to the fourth floor, where Steve's, Sam's, and Natasha's rooms all were. He ran over to her door and began to knock on it before stopping himself. Tony had told him that he'd made the doors to where if there was even a knock against them they would classify it as a threat and enact the **necessary measures**. Since Steve didn't want to find out want to find out what that meant he went over to where the camera was. Each room had a security camera so whoever was inside could see who wanted them.

"Hello, Captain Rogers," said J.A.R.V.I.S. "Are you wishing to speak with Ms. Romanoff?"

Steve nodded. "Yes, is she asleep?"

"No, she is awake. I will tell her you are here." Steve could hear him through the door. "Ms. Romanoff, Captain Rogers is here to speak to you."

"Tell him to go away," he heard her say after seconds of silence.

"Yes Ms. Romanoff." J.A.R.V.I.S. voice returned to Steve's side. "Ms. Romanoff asks that you please leave her be."

Steve sighed. _I knew it would be like this. _"Tell her I'm worried about here and came here to check on her."

J.A.R.V.I.S. repeated his message to her. "Tell him I'm fine and to go away!"

J.A.R.V.I.S. repeated her message to him. "Tell her I'm not leaving until she talks to me."

This back and forth continued for a couple of minutes until J.A.R.V.I.S. got tired of it. "Forgive me Ms. Romanoff but I can't keep doing this. Captain Rogers the door is open." Steve heard a click, along with a frustrated sigh from Natasha as he walked in the room.

There sat the Black Widow herself on the side of the bed, in black denim shorts and a red tank top. Her red hair was ruffled and as she yawned, Steve knew she really had been napping.

"Hey Natasha," he began as he sat down on the lower end of the bed when she scooted herself up to the top end.

She was frowning at him. "I thought I asked you to go away."

He smiled at her. "Too worried about you to do that."

His smile helped some of her anger melt away and she gave a small smile. "Well don't be. Like I said I'm fine."

Steve could tell by her voice that she really wasn't. "Nat, you know I know you enough to know when something's wrong."

"Well if you know me enough then you know I can handle just about anything myself."

Steve knew this was true. Natasha was the strongest, bravest, most intelligent woman he knew and he knew that whatever was wrong she would handle it. "Still, as your friend I'm worried about you…but I respect if you don't want to talk about it." He stood up ready to go but before he could take a step she grabbed his arm. "I-I guess we can talk about it."

Steve smiled at her. "Over drinks. How does that sound? Stark said there's a bar in the basement and J.A.R.V.I.S. will make whatever we want."

Natasha hopped off the bed, smirking. "All right over drinks but wait, on one condition."

He stopped. "What?"

"You get out of those ridiculous American flag swim trunks," she said.

Steve stared down at his swim trunks. They had stars on one leg, stripes on the other. "These are my favorite pair," he said.

She raised her eyebrow at him. He sighed in defeat. "Alright, fine. I'll go change."

* * *

And so it begins. What all will happen on this little vacation? Well keep checking back to see. Next chapter we learn what's bothering Natasha, Steve and Natasha drink together and you know who knows what else could happen. So, um, I'm kinda a slow updater so please bear with me. I've also got another chapter fic I'm working on so the updating for this one may or may not be slower than that one. Depends on my writer's block. Anyway, check out my other stuff if you want, it's all anime stuff though. Oh and reviews and constructive criticism are always appreciated! See y'all next chapter! ;D


	2. Just Another Drink

**Author's Note: **Yo, readers who have followed me to the next chapter. I hope you are liking the fic so far! Um, just want to tell you real quick that I will always have an author's note at the beginning and end of each chapter. The first one doesn't really say to much so you can always skip ahead to the story. As always I'm sorry if it's terrible or if anyone OOC. I try really hard to make it good but by no means am I a great writer. Anyway, here is Chapter 2: "Just Another Drink".

* * *

After getting changed, Steve and Natasha hopped into the elevator and headed down to the bar. When the elevator doors opened J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice came over the intercom. "Welcome Captain Rogers, Ms. Romanoff."

"Hello, J.A.R.V.I.S.," they said in unison as they headed up to the bar. Steve pulled a seat out for Natasha before sitting in his own seat.

"Always a gentleman, aren't you?" she said, adjusting herself to face him.

"Just the way I was raised," he replied.

"And what will we be having this evening?" asked J.A.R.V.I.S.

"I'll have a greyhound," said Natasha, "With vodka not gin."

"Certainly Ms. Romanoff. For you Captain Rogers?"

"Um…" Steve was having trouble picking.

"Oh wait," said J.A.R.V.I.S., suddenly, "Mr. Stark told me he'd concocted something just for you. You must try it, he said. I'll get it right away and your greyhound too, Ms. Romanoff."

Steve looked at her confused. "So you're having a what?"

"A greyhound. It's what they call grapefruit juice mixed with either vodka or gin. Obviously the Russian in me chooses vodka over gin," she said.

"Oh. Well, I haven't drunk much since the war and then it was pretty much just 'I want some whiskey' or 'I want some beer'. Drinks didn't really have names to them other than brands of course," he said.

"Well seventy years later they do. And you're going to have to try some." Suddenly the counter opened up and out came their drinks.

"Here," began Natasha as she pushed hers toward him, "Try this."

Steve stared down at it for a minute before taking a sip. "Taste like normal grapefruit juice," he said, handing it back to her.

"Yep. The vodka doesn't really had a taste to it unless you use some flavored vodka. Ultimately, it's just spiked juice." She took a sip of it then smiled. "Even though it doesn't add anything to the taste it still seems better than regular grapefruit juice."

"Want a sip of mine?" asked Steve.

"Sure," said Natasha as she picked it up. After she took a sip, she made a face and set it back down in front of him. "Wow. Ok Tony must've give you like 190 proof or something because that is **very **strong. A few sips of the that and you'll be drunk in no time."

Steve stared down into his glass and gave sad smile. "I can't get drunk because of the serum. My body just burns it out of me too fast. I tried to get drunk during the war." He gave a small laugh. "I thought it'd help me get through some things but it never worked."

As he gazed into the clear liquid it was as if it was turning into a movie screen and replaying everything that had happened to him. Mom and Dad dying. Bucky. The Expo. Dr. Erskine. Training. Col Phillips. Peggy. The experiment. The aftermath. Dr. Erskine's death. "Captain America". Howard. Bucky on the experiment table. The Howling Commandos. HYDRA. Zola. Bucky and the train. Peggy's kiss. Red Skull. The Tesseract. His goodbye to Peggy. The cold water of the Arctic...

Steve quickly grabbed the drink and downed it, as if doing so would make the images go away. Natasha was right; the drink was probably the strongest thing he's ever tasted. He placed the glass back down on the counter and noticed Natasha looking at him.

"Steve, you ok?" she asked, reaching out to touch his arm.

"Yeah," he began nodding, "Yeah I was just-just thinking about old times." He quickly changed the subject, not wanting to think about the past anymore. "J.A.R.V.I.S. another please."

"Yes, Captain Rogers."

"So," he said turning to her, "I think we're forgetting the reason we came down here."

Natasha sighed. "Steve..."

"Nat, don't. You said you'd tell me what was wrong. Come on we got our drinks and I changed my shorts so start talking."

"I thought you'd said you'd respect if I didn't want to talk about it," she said.

_I did say that. _Steve sighed. "Well I guess if it's really bothering you **that **much to talk about it then..."

She took a sip of her drink then set the glass back down and ran over finger over the brim. "You'd be a terrible interrogator, Steve. You're too nice." She spun around in her chair and leaned against the counter. "What's been bothering me...are my scars."

That kind of surprised Steve. He remembered Natasha saying that she couldn't wear bikinis anymore because of the scar on her abdomen but he thought she was just being sarcastic about it. He didn't really expect Natasha to care too much about that stuff. "Nat," he began, "no one's going to say anything about your scar. We all have scars here. Besides there are swimsuits that cover that up."

"Steve it's not just that one scar," she said.

"Oh is it also the one of your shoulder? Nat, even if you can't really hide it no one will say anything about it," he said.

"No, Steve, you don't understand," she began, frustrated, "It's not those scars I'm talking about it the ones I got from...got from..." She turned around, grabbed her drink, and finished it off. Then everything got silent for a second as Steve waited for her to continue.

"From?" he asked.

She stared down at her reflection in the counter. Steve could tell by the look in her eyes that she was reliving some moment in her head, just as he had a few minutes ago. "From where Nat?" he began, bringing her back to reality, "Come on you can tell me...we're friends." He smiled at her but she didn't smile back.

"Steve...I'm sorry but this is something I've never talked about with anyone, not even Clint."

Steve felt a ting of disappointment and jealously go through him and he felt bad about it. _I respect Natasha not wanting to talk about it, but...I guess I thought we were close enough to discuss stuff like this. Then again who's closer to Nat than Clint, and if she hasn't told him why would she tell me? _"Alright then." He finished his second drink and waited for J.A.R.V.I.S. send another up for both of them.

For a few minutes the both just sat there drinking and refilling and repeating. Finally Natasha started up a conversation. "So how are things with Sharon? You ever go on that date with her?"

Steve shook his head. "Yeah but it didn't go anywhere. We went out for coffee once and we kind of got caught up talking about Peggy. It just seemed like what we had in common was, well, Peggy. And I don't want to sound weird but when I looked at her I couldn't help see the similarities and it bothered me. I still see her sometimes when I visit Peggy though."

"I see," said Natasha, "I guess I'm going to have to find more people to set you up with then."

Steve laughed. "Oh gosh."

"What?" she asked, smirking, "Not ready for a lady, Steve?"

"I have a lady," he said softly, touching his pocket to feel his compass.

Thoughts of Peggy filled his mind, thoughts of the strong, intelligent woman he knew and then thought of the poor, confused woman she had become in those 70 years. He took another sip of his drink. He had to admit that his head was starting to feel a little fuzzy.

"So," he began turning the conversation back to Natasha, "what about you? Got a special man in your life?"

Natasha laughed as she swirled the ice in her glass. "Please. There is **way** too much going on in my life to have time for a relationship."

"Well, are you interested in someone?" he asked.

She glanced over at him and smiled. "...Maybe," she replied after a moment of hesitation.

Something about her look made Steve blush a bit and he quickly turned his attention back to his drink.

They continued with more basic chitchat as the night went on. Things like 'how is this/that' or 'what have you been doing lately' or 'wonder what so and so is up to'. J.A.R.V.I.S. kept the drinks coming and as the night drug on Steve's head kept getting fuzzier. _I feel like I should go lie down. _But he was enjoying this time talking with Natasha. She never really seemed one for many words when he first met her but during the Hydra/S.H.I.E.L.D. incident he'd got to see more sides of her and now considered her a friend, closer to him than all the rest of the group. So he remained down there with her.

He didn't exactly know when it was that he blacked out.

MEANWHILE ON THE BEACH...

Everyone was lounging on the beach, tired out from there first day of their 10 day vacation.

"So," began Tony who was munching on some blueberries, "who wants to make a bet with me?"

"Depends on what we're betting about," said Fury.

"I'm not telling yet; I want this to be interesting," said Tony.

"Tony, I don't think anyone here is going to bet if they don't know what it's on," replied Bruce, taking a handful of Tony's blueberries.

"I'll take a chance, Stark," pipped up Clint.

"You're a real man, Arrows," replied Tony.

"Ok so what the bet, Stark?" asked Sam.

"The bet, my dear friends, is that I can get Capsicle in there drunk within these 10 days," announced Tony.

"Tony," began Bruce, "You do understand that Captain Rogers can't get drunk, right?"

"Oh I'm glad I took this bet," chuckled Clint.

"Well you won't be for long Katniss," began Tony, "for I found some of my fathers papers about the serum, and, after studying them a while, created the perfect drink for him. So, on one of these 10 days we're going to take him down there and I'm going to win a bet."

Clint sighed. "I wished I'd known all that before."

"So what'll the loser do?" asked Sam. "Give the winner some money? Do an embarrassing stunt?"

"We'll cross that bridge when Clint gets gets there," said Tony.

* * *

Well, I guess Tony's already won his bet. I'm sure Clint'll be mad. Speaking of Clint, what about Steve feeling a little jealous of his and Natasha's relationship? Just want to let y'all know that Clintasha is one of my favorite BROtps. Reasons I don't ship them romantically is a) Stevetasha, (am I right?) and b) I'm a big fan of Clint and Bobbi's (Mockingbird) relationship in the comics and I really hope that if they give Hawkeye is own movie they bring her in so yeah. Anyway, next chapter we get to see the aftermath of what happens when Captain America gets drunk the first time (promise y'all it's nothing cliche as them making out, having sex, etc.) and I'm sorry this seems to be going slow but what happens in the next chapter really fuels the plot. Actually you could say it's really what starts the story. Also there are more appearances by everyone else, mostly Sam (cause I mean come on who doesn't love Sam?) so woo! I know this update came fast but I wouldn't expect the rest to be as fast. I'll try my hardest to update at least every two weeks but with school starting to come to an end it may get hard to do that so I don't promise anything, especially with this coming week because I have so many essays to write. It's just that y'all's reviews really helped me to feel better about this fic and then the update pretty much just started to flow. So keep reviewing guys cause reviews and constructive criticism are always appreciated! See y'all next chapter! ;D

Oh and thank you to MysticFantasy, A Lost Sheep, ym4yum1, saliormcmarnie, alwaysmyoriginalsin, Lord Voledemort XIV, Littlesister007, Destined627, Karyanawel, Hawk Eye, LightningRivera, Fuinn13, and the 2 guest for the reviews and constructive criticism. Also thanks to all who followed and favorited. You all are the reason this got updated so quickly!


	3. Just Another Morning

**Author's Note: **Yo, readers! We are now at chapter 3 and now the drama in the story really begins. I just want y'all to know that I skipped working on a college research paper and a newspaper article to finish this for you guys. And I kept my deadline and even made this chapter about 1500 words longer than usual because you guys have been wanting an update so much. So I really hope you all enjoy because now things take off! As always I'm sorry if it's terrible or if anyone OOC. Anyway, here is Chapter 3: "Just Another Morning".

* * *

Steve awoke the next morning, feeling like he's slept on a rock. _I know I told Tony I didn't want a really soft bed but come on. It's feel like I should've just slept on the floor. _He rolled himself over, only to collide with the legs of a chair. He then realized that he was not in his bed but rather on the floor of the bar. He raised up slowly, groaning at the pain in his head and back.

"Morning," said Natasha, sitting in a chair at the bar in front of him. She reached around and grabbed a drink then hopped off the chair and handed it too him.

"What is that?" he asked, staring uncertain at the drink in his hand.

"Coconut water," replied Natasha, "It helps with the dehydration that comes from a hangover."

Steve took a big swig before asking, "A hangover?"

Natasha nodded. "Yeah a hangover. You know, what happens the morning after you get drunk."

Steve slowly stood up, a bit unsteady on his legs, and then took a seat back at the bar. Natasha joined him. "I can't get drunk. It's literally impossible."

"Not when Tony Stark is you bartender," she began, "Last night he told me that he'd read some old papers Howard Stark had on you and found out just what he needed to make to get you drunk."

"Wait a minute, Stark told you all this?" he asked.

Natasha grinned. "Only after I beat it out of him. He came down here wanting to make sure everything was ready, said something about he and Clint made a bet about getting you drunk one day this week. Anyway, when he came down you had just passed out on the bar and I was asking J.A.R.V.I.S. what Stark had done. When I heard him starting to make a mad dash back to the elevator I caught him and got it out of him."

Steve made a note to kill Tony before the day was over.

"So, wait," began Steve, "If I passed out at the bar, why was I on the floor?"

Natasha laughed. "I tried to pick you up and carry you back up but it was no use."

"So you just left me in the floor?" he asked.

"Well at least when you were in your chair when I got you up the first time so you were sort of halfway standing. When you hit the floor though there was no chance I could just lift you up," she replied.

Steve took another swig from his water. Then they both sat there in silence for a moment until Steve spoke up. "So..." began Steve, slowly, "what all happened last night?"

"You don't remember anything?" asked Natasha.

Steve shook his head. "Not really. The last thing I remember is we were just having some small talk and my head stared to feel a bit fuzzy and then nothing."

Natasha laughed. "Where to begin."

Steve sighed. "Oh gosh what'd I do?"

"You really want to know?" asked Natasha, smirking.

"Why how bad is it?" he asked, nervous.

Natasha laughed. "Oh calm down, Steve; it isn't that bad. So we drank a bit more and I noticed you were starting to get a bit too relaxed than normal. Then I knew something was wrong when you started calling me Peggy. You told me to watch you do your new "Captain America"routine, said you got to punch Hitler in the face in this one. So then you starting swinging your fist around and almost fell over. Then when you finally got tired you feel down in the seat beside me and...and..."

"What?" asked Steve, frantically, "Nat, what happened?"

"Well...," she began, "You said 'I love you, Peggy" and then kissed me...and then you passed out. I must say though that either you've had practice since I kissed you or you just kiss better when you think of her."

Natasha laughed but Steve just sat there silent for moment as he processed it all. His head was spinning, partly from the hangover and partly from all he'd just heard.

"Why would I do that?" he asked, voicing aloud his thoughts.

"Oh, don't be hard on yourself, Steve. Everyone does stupid things when they're drunk. You probably just had your mind on the past and decided to act an old promotion routine out." she said. "It was actually pretty funny to watch."

"No," said Steve, "I wasn't talking about that."

"Oh," began Natasha, "you mean the whole Peggy thing? Look Steve you were probably just thinking about her and then saw me sitting here and, you know, just believed I was her. It's really not a big deal."

"But why would I do that?" asked Steve, mostly to himself, "You aren't anything like Peggy."

Natasha was a little surprised. "Oh really? Why is that?"

When the words came out of Steve's mouth, he immediately regretted them. "Because Peggy was **always** good."

Natasha appeared a bit hurt by his comments but quickly regained herself. "Well, excuse me for trying to survive," she replied coldly. She quickly got up and started to head toward the elevator.

Steve immediately jumped up and started after her. "Natasha, wait! I didn't mean it like that!" He reached the elevator just as she was closing the door. He tried to grab it before it closed and tried talking to her. "Nat, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. My head's still fuzzy and I-"

"Steve," interrupted Natasha, "I...look if you don't let this elevator go I'm going to stab in the neck."

Knowing she would probably do it, Steve let go. He stood there a second, his head throbbing worse than earlier, before he finally got into the elevator and headed up after her.

When he got off on the fourth floor he went to Natasha door. "J.A.R.V.I.S. is Natasha in? I really need to talk to her."

"I'm sorry, Captain Rogers but Ms. Romanoff doesn't want to be disturbed and after last time I think I should do as she ask," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.

Steve sighed, thanked J.A.R.V.I.S., and headed off to his own room. He decided that a cool shower might make his head feel better.

As he stepped into the shower he leaned his head against the wall and let the cool water run down his back as he stood there, thinking.

_I shouldn't have said that. Natasha ** is **good. I know that; I've **seen **it, firsthand, in New York, in D.C. _

Sure, Natasha had worked for the KGB but it was like she said, she had to survive. Then she joined S.H.E.I.L.D. to start over and he remembered how upset she seemed when she found out it was really Hydra. It was like she couldn't escape the bad, no matter how hard she tried. And Natasha did try so hard to turn over a new leaf, to erase the red in her ledger, to stop her past from haunting her. Then he had to go and say that and it was as if her efforts to change didn't matter.

Steve knew that he'd fractured his friendship with Natasha, something that was so hard to build to begin with. He knew that Natasha had very few close friends and he was so glad to be one of them but now here he was, trying to figure out a way to fix the crack he'd created.

He sighed and decided he'd needed someone to talk too. So, after he showered and dressed, he headed over to Sam's room.

"Hello Captain Rogers," began J.A.R.V.I.S., "Wishing to speak with Mr. Wilson?"

"Yep," said Steve.

"I'll wake him then," replied J.A.R.V.I.S.

Steve stood there for a moment, looking around the hall, before Sam finally came to the door, rubbing his eyes.

"Steve it's 7:00 am, what could you possibly need? And please don't say we're going for a run; this is a vacation," he said.

"I need someone to talk to Sam. Can I come in?" he asked. Sam nodded his head and motioned him in.

Before Steve could sit down Sam quickly made up his bed, military style, and then took a quarter from a stack of pocket change on his night stand and then bounced it on his bed and caught it in the air. Steve smiled; little military things never left you.

Steve slowly sat down on the edge of the bed, making sure not to ruin Sam's hard work, and Sam grabbed a chair and pulled it up to face him. "So what do you need to talk about?" asked Sam.

"...Natasha," Steve answered.

"Natasha?" asked Sam, confused, "What happened?"

Steve began going through all the events from the morning and the previous night. When he was finished Sam was just staring at him.

"Steve, I'm sorry for saying this, but what the hell is wrong with you?" he asked, "Why would you even **think **to say that to her? I mean I only worked with her in New York but she seemed to be pretty well on our side."

"I know," began Steve, "I wasn't thinking clearly."

"So what do you plan to do now?" asked Sam.

"I plan to repair my friendship with Nat, of course," replied Steve.

"But that's easier said than done," countered Sam.

"True," sighed Steve, "I was hoping you'd help me come up with a plan."

"Sorry, Steve but the women I'm attracted to aren't so complex so I don't think-" began Sam.

"Wait," interjected Steve, "did you just say the women I'm **attracted **to?"

"Yeah," said Sam, "I mean I'm not going to lie Steve but you get attracted to some complex women. Peggy, Natasha."

"I'm **not** attracted to Natasha," said Steve. "We work together, we're close friends, but there is **no** attraction."

"I don't know, Steve. I've watched the two of you and I definitely thinks something's there," said Sam.

"Yeah, well, you'd be wrong," replied Steve.

"Steve you ever think maybe there was a reason you called Natasha Peggy last night?" said Sam, "You think that maybe you see the similarities in them and it just kinda manifested in your drunken mind last night."

"When did you become a psychiatrist, Sam?" asked Steve, sarcastically.

"Look Steve, working with the people I do I've got to learn to understand their minds; I've got to be able to help them explain why they do what they do. I'm the closest thing to a psychiatrist without having an actual degree."

Steve thought on it for a moment. Was what Sam saying true? Yeah, maybe Natasha and Peggy had some similarities; they were both intelligent, independent, beautiful ladies who could kick some serious butt. Is that part of the reason he saw Peggy in Natasha last night? And now that he thought about it, was he maybe a **little **attracted to Natasha?

Steve shook his head. "No! No way. I don't like Natasha like that. I've got my girl," he said, speaking his thoughts aloud.

"Steve," began Sam, slowly, "Don't you think that maybe it's time to, you know, let Peggy go? I mean you'd still hold a place for her in your heart but you'd also move on a bit in your love life."

"I couldn't do that to Peggy," said Steve.

"Yeah but, look man, you have to consider that she moved on in her life," said Sam.

"That's only because she thought I was **dead**. Peggy is still here," said Steve. _But for how much longer? _Steve couldn't shake the thought that Peggy wouldn't be with him much longer.

As if Sam had read his mind he said, "Steve when you "died" I'm sure you wanted Peggy to live her life and be happy, right?"

Steve nodded. It was true. He thought when he put the aircraft underwater he'd die and also he talked to Peggy during it, he kept thinking about how much he loved her and how much he wanted her to always be happy.

"Well don't you think that Peggy sort of understands the state she's in and wants you to live you life and be happy since you have the chance to?" said Sam.

Steve thought about it for a moment. "Yeah," he finally said, "she would."

Sam stood up from the chair. "Steve, look, I believe that you should move on in your love life, that Peggy would want you to. And if it's with Natasha then that's good. But if you just want to remain friends with her then that's good too. No matter how you want to move on with this though Steve the first thing you need to do is tell Natasha how sorry you are."

Steve stood up and nodded. Sam was right. He needed to tell Natasha he how sorry he was, how he wanted to fix their friendship; he could try to sort out the rest of his feelings later. "Thanks Sam."

Sam smiled and touched Steve's shoulder. "No problem, man. I'm always here to listen."

Suddenly J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice came over the room. "Good morning, everyone. Breakfast has just been finished. It's currently ready in the dining room on floor one."

"Come on," began Sam, "let's go get some breakfast."

So they headed out the door and toward the elevator and who was waiting there for it but Natasha.

She glanced over at Steve and Sam and then returned to look at the elevator waiting for the doors to open. Steve knew she was still mad.

Suddenly the doors opened and Natasha walked in with Steve behind her and Sam coming in behind him. Just as he thought Sam was in the elevator, he jumped out. "Sorry I, uh, forgot to get something. Let me just go get it and then I'll be right down, ok?" With that he rushed off to his room.

An awkward silence feel over the elevator as the doors shut and they started heading down. Steve looked over at Natasha who was staring at the elevator wall. When he looked away, Natasha looked over at him until he started to turn back to look at her. They repeated watching each other until finally they were staring each other directly in the eye.

Steve, a bit embarrassed, laughed and Natasha even did a little too. Steve felt a little bit of the tension melt away. _I guess now's as good a time as any. _"Natasha," began Steve before the dinging of the elevator cut him off. They were stopped at floor 3 and in hopped Maria and Fury, along with Sam, who Steve guessed had ran down instead of wanting to wait for the elevator to come back up. As everyone piled in, Steve became a little agitated he missed his chance to talk to Natasha.

They then descended to the first floor where when they stepped off they were hit with the smells of delicious food. Everyone sat down at the large table in the dining room and by the time everyone else was seated Steve noticed that the only place left was in front of Natasha. He took a seat and watched as she chatted with Clint, who sat beside her. He felt a little jealous watching them; it only made him feel worse about what he said. Normally he could've been the one talking to her like that.

Suddenly, a couple of Tony's Iron Man suits came out from the kitchen each carrying plates of food and placed them in front of everyone.

As everyone ate they tried to decide what to do that day. "Well, I think we should have a cookout later tonight," suggested Pepper.

Everyone seemed to be in agreement with the idea. "Great," began Pepper, "so how about when it gets closer to time we-"

J.A.R.V.I.S. interrupted her. "Ms. Potts, you have a phone call from Mr. Hogan."

"Oh well I'll be right back," said Pepper as she left the dining room.

"So, anyway," began Tony, "why don't we talk about the fact that last night I wo-" J.A.R.V.I.S. interrupted him.

"Director Fury, a certain former agent of S.H.E.I.L.D. is on the line."

Fury and Maria both looked at each other before getting up.

"So what were you saying Tony?" asked Sam.

"I was saying th-" began Tony again before J.A.R.V.I.S. came back on the line.

"Mr. Wilson you've got a phone call from the VA, Dr. Banner it's time to take your blood pressure medicine, and Mr. Barton a woman named Bobbi is on the phone." They all left, leaving only Tony, Natasha, and Steve in the room.

Everything was silent and an awkward tension was in the air. Steve slowly at his bacon while Natasha picked at her eggs. Tony looked back and forth from both of them. "Did you to screw each other last night or something?" he asked.

Steve started choking and Natasha glared at Tony. "What the hell, Stark? You were down there; you saw how passed out Steve was. You think he just woke up after that and decided we should have sex?" she asked.

"Well weirder things have happened. And besides how did I know you two didn't do it before I came down? You all were gone for a pretty long time yesterday."

Steve shifted uncomfortably.

"Screw off Stark. You know good and well we were drinking down there," said Natasha.

"Sorry but the way you two are acting makes me believe that you two might've sealed the deal last night. Now you, Romanoff, might've enjoyed it; you seem like a woman who'd enjoy controlling a 90 year old virgin in bed, but then boy scout over there had probably had like an emotional crisis and now everything's all weird between you. Right?" he said.

_Well minus the sex part you've pretty much got the rest of the story. _"Stark, we didn't have sex last night," said Steve. "We drank and I just got drunk then passed out. Nothing's weird between me and Nat." He looked over at her, awkwardly smiling. "Right?"

She nodded, slowly. "Right. I don't understand where this came from Stark."

They returned to their eating but Steve could still see Tony looking at them.

When everyone finished eating they headed off to their rooms to prepare to head down to the beach. As Steve started out of the kitchen, Tony grabbed him by the arm. "Rogers," he began, "just wanted to let you know that I know that I saw some surveillance footage of what happened between you two last night and this morning down in the bar so I know you guys were lying when you said that nothing was weird between you two."

"Wait if you knew what happened why did you ask if we had sex?" asked Steve.

"I just wanted to make you uncomfortable," said Tony. "Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I am here to help you with whatever you're planning to do to fix this. Cause it really looks like you've screwed up, Rogers."

No one had to tell Steve that twice. "Thanks Stark." They both started to walk away before Steve turned around. "Oh and Stark what was this about a bet you and Agent Barton made to get me drunk?"

"Well, uh, you know what how about I just call the whole thing off, huh?" said Tony.

"Yeah, you may want to do that." said Steve, hopping on the elevator.

* * *

And so the story has now really began. Steve wants to repair his broken friendship with Natasha but could that maybe cause him to realize some other feelings he has toward her? Well at least we know that Sam ships it and Tony's pretty on board to help. We can only imagine what will happen with this. So anyway so the next chapter actually isn't going to be anything new timewise; it's just going to be Natasha's POV after what happened. I hope you all will like it because we get to see more of Natasha that we didn't get to see this chapter. Reviews and constructive criticism are always appreciated! See y'all next chapter! ;D

Oh and thank you to Angelalex242, Destined627, Littlesiter007, crazyaboutto, Fuinn13, RushmanNatalie, GSMemorial18, sleeplessinbudapest, A Lost Sheep, HermioneJMalfoy, Lawlady562, RoxasGuyXIII, and the 3 guests for the reviews and constructive criticism. Also thanks to all who followed and favorited.


	4. Just Another Wound

**Author's Note: **I saw the Amazing Spider-man 2 this last Sunday and it was really good. Go watch if you haven't. Anyway, as always I'm sorry if it's terrible or if anyone OOC. Here is Chapter 4: "Just Another Wound".

* * *

Natasha Romanoff has been wounded more ways than you could count. Kicked, punched, stabbed, shocked, shot, burned, and the list just kept going on and on. Those were just the physical wounds though, the ones that she had quickly learned to handle; it was the emotional ones that still would make her bleed a little on the inside.

True, she had been a spy for years and had faced nasty interrogations with everything bad about her being spit into her face but there was still something about hearing others tell you all your faults still stung her. When she was first getting started she let the hurt show, not because she wanted too but because she couldn't help it, but after a while she knew better than to do that, knew that it only gave them more leverage over you, and she began learning how to hide the pain the words caused her.

Like a year ago when she was interrogating Loki. Everything he had said about the hospital fire, Drakov's daughter, and Sao Paulo filled a part of her with regret, guilt, and sadness but she refused to let it consume her and carried out her interrogation perfectly. The best lies often have a bit of truth to them as they say so what better way for her to fake Loki out than by letting a little of her feelings show.

Many would believe that the Black Widow was made of ice or stone, but that wasn't totally true. Natasha may be tougher than most but she was still human; she still could be wounded. And what hurts more than the words of enemies was the words of friends.

So when the words left Steve's mouth, a flash of pain came over Natasha's face but she quickly composed herself. "Well, excuse me for trying to survive," she said as she headed to the elevator.

She heard Steve running after her, shouting, but she ignored him and hopped into the elevator. She pressed the 4th floor button and watched as the elevator doors began to close. She watched as Steve got closer and just when she thought that he had missed her, he quickly grabbed the doors.

"Nat, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. My head's still fuzzy and I-" he began before she cut him off.

"Steve, I...look if you don't let this elevator go I'm going to stab you in the neck," she said, completely serious.

Seeing that she could probably do it, he let go of the elevator and she headed up to her room.

The moment she entered her room she headed to the bathroom to soak for a while. For some reason she felt kind of filthy; maybe it was from sleeping in bar stool after some heavy drinking or maybe it was because she couldn't get what Steve said out of her head. "Because Peggy was **always **good" kept echoing in her ears.

Though Natasha wouldn't admit to it, she was proud of how she had changed. After Clint had decided not to kill her, a part of her wanted to go to a better side, where she could help people, where she could get rid of the past and some of the red in her ledger. When she joined S.H.E.I.L.D. she felt like she wasn't just surviving anymore, as she had when she joined the KGB. She felt like she was truly a part of something better. So when it was revealed to be Hyrda she was shocked. Like she told Steve, she only traded the KGB for Hydra. She couldn't escape the bad.

"Can you wipe out that much red? Your ledger is dripping; it's gushing red." Loki's words rang in her head as she began undressing. _I thought I had wiped out some of it. _With New York and Washington, Natasha felt that some of the red was washed away, that by saving so many innocent people's lives it had made up for some of those lives she'd taken. But maybe only she was the only one that thought that.

She thought about when she asked Steve if he trusted her and he replied that he did. Aside from Clint, Steve was who she felt closest to, someone she considered a friend more than just a co-worker. So much had happened between the two of them since New York and when he, the virtuous Captain America, said he trusted her, it only made her feel more like she was on a better path and people were starting to see that.

_Apparently not. _She thought as she finished undressing. She walked over to the mirror and stared at her naked body. Plenty of women mentioned that they wished they could have a body like hers and she knew plenty of men wanted her body, in a different way, by the way they looked at her. _If they saw this would they still want it? _

She could remember just about everywhere she got each of her scars. A couple of small bullet wound scars from Budapest dotted her body, a knife scar from Sao Paulo was one her right thigh, she had burns all over her back from the hospital fire, but one scar are on her had hurt worst than the rest.

She remembered the day she received it vividly in her head. It was just another mission, take out someone to send a message to someone else, simple. Or at least that's what it seemed like until she met her target, eight-year-old Irina Drakov. Natasha was told to kill Irina to send a message to Russian politician, Maxim Drakov, that they were coming for him next.

Natasha wasn't really new to spying, she'd done it since she was a child, but assassinations were a different story; she'd probably only been on assassination mission about four or five times before then and none of them had involved children. For a moment, she even considered asking if she could be taken off the mission but knew better than to do so. So she went through with it.

First she began by becoming Irina's private tutor. She spent weeks with the little girl, teaching her, talking to her, **bonding** with her. After a while she began seeing a little bit of her former self in the girl, the self that existed before the spying.

Then the day came. Natasha remembered it well. It was like any other day she went to tutor her, so quiet, so normal. It was snowing as Natasha drove to the Drakov house and she remembered trying to walk into the house in those black boots with a big heel and she fell down on the pavement and scraped her hands. Irina had rushed out to help her and fell down as well and they both laughed about it in the house as she put band-aids on their hands. It was the last time Irina Drakov laughed.

Natasha remembered how she did it. She'd leaned over Irina, acting as if she was explaining something, and placed a gun next to her torso. Natasha remembered how in that moment, for the first and only time in her career, her hand was shaking when she fired. The shot wasn't a kill shot and Irina feel the the ground, screaming and breathing heavily as she held on to her wound. Her screams had alerted her guards and Natasha could hear them coming. As she started to run she was stopped by Irina grabbing her pant leg.

She could never get the look Irina gave her out of her mind. Her face was filled, not with anger, or fear, or shock, but with sadness at Natasha's betrayal. As crystal clear tears flowed from her eyes and scarlet red blood from between her fingers, Irina mouthed one finally word to her: why?

And Natasha stood there and couldn't come up with the answer. It kept floating through her head. Why? Why did she do it? Why did she kill a little girl? Because she was assigned to? Was that really the best answer she could give? But before Natasha could keep thinking of what to say the guards had arrived.

Quickly she pulled away from Irina's grasp and started to head for the door. And just as she thought she was free she felt a burning pain below her stomach. She placed her hand against it and felt the warm liquid on it as she drew it away. A bullet had hit her but hadn't exited and she feared what would happen to her insides if she started running. She was beginning to feel dizzy and could hear the sounds of the guards but couldn't clearly determine how close they were. Luckily though her backup had arrived and after hearing the two gunshots and the guards drop to the floor, she blacked out.

She awoke the next day in the hospital, with a fresh scar and some bad news. The doctor told her that the bullet had been removed successfully but had left her to where she would never be able to have children. _A punishment for killing a child I assume. __  
_

Now Natasha looked at the white mark on her and sighed. These were the scars she was trying to hide, the ones from her time on the bad side. Like she had told Steve, she hadn't really even talked to Clint much about them; he only knew the basics of how she got them and that was that. And she wondered what people would say if they saw them. They'd probably would want to know the story behind them and those were stories Natasha wasn't ready to tell, not even to those closest to her.

She stepped into the tub and more thoughts floated through her mind. _I bet if I told Steve those stories now it'd only give him more reason to think bad of me, not that I care what he thinks.  
_

But, as much as she hated to admit it, she did kind of care. Lately she was getting closer to Steve and when he asked her if she was interested in someone his was the first name to come to mind. _But it's not like that. It's not love. Love is childish. _At least that's what she kept telling herself.

Natasha soaked in peace for a while then heard J.A.R.V.I.S. saying breakfast was ready. Natasha was quite hunger so she quickly rose, dressed, and headed to wait for the elevator. A moment later she heard a door opened and glanced over her shoulder to see Sam and Steve. She ignored them.

When the elevator doors opened she got on first and watched as Steve and Sam joined...until Sam suddenly jumped off saying he forgot something. She could tell it was a big lie just to get the two of them together. She kept her eyes on the wall but could feel him staring at her. When he looked away she looked over at him.

She noticed he was turning to look at her so she quickly turned away. This repeated for a while until they were looking into each others eyes. _Like some rom-com for something. _She could tell Steve was embarrassed but was surprised when he started laughing. Oddly enough she found herself laughing a little too. It was a bit funny after all.

After they stopped laughing Natasha noticed Steve take a deep breath. "Natasha," he began before being cut off by the ding of the elevator. Fury, Sam, and Maria all hopped on and they headed down to the first floor. She knew what he was going to say. _He was going to apologize. _Maybe a there was a part of her that wanted to forgive him but for now Natasha couldn't find that part.

When they arrived in the dining room Natasha took a seat by Clint, who had already arrived. He smiled at her and she back at him and the two of them began talking chatting about basic things. He asked if she felt better than yesterday; she glanced over at Steve who sat in front of her. "Kinda," she replied.

Suddenly, Tony's suits came and placed a plate in front of everyone and as they ate they talked about what to do for the day. Pepper suggested having a cookout, which everyone agreed to, but just as she was about to say more about it she was called away for a phone call.

Then Fury and Maria were called away by J.A.R.V.I.S. for a phone call. Then so were Sam, Clint, and Bruce, leaving only herself, Steve, and Tony. Natasha knew Tony was up to something but she quiet sat there and picked at her eggs and felt the awkwardness in the air. She was just waiting for Tony to say something.

Then he did. "Did you to screw each other last night or something?" he asked.

Steve started choking and Natasha glared at Tony. She **knew **he was going to say something. "What the hell, Stark?" she began. You were down there; you saw how passed out Steve was. You think he just woke up after that and decided we should have sex?"

"Well weirder things have happened. And besides how did I know you two didn't do it before I came down? You all were gone for a pretty long time yesterday."

She noticed Steve shifted uncomfortably and she gave an angry sigh.

"Screw off Stark. You know good and well we were drinking down there," said Natasha.

"Sorry but the way you two are acting makes me believe that you two might've sealed the deal last night. Now you, Romanoff, might've enjoyed it; you seem like a woman who'd enjoy controlling a 90 year old virgin in bed, but then boy scout over there had probably had like an emotional crisis and now everything's all weird between you. Right?" he said.

_Only because Steve had to make it so weird. He could've just laughed off his drunken behavior like any normal person. _She wanted to voice her thought but didn't.

"Stark, we didn't have sex last night," said Steve. "We drank and I just got drunk then passed out. Nothing's weird between me and Nat." He looked over at her, awkwardly smiling. "Right?"

She nodded, slowly. "Right. I don't understand where this came from Stark." _But no matter how you got this stupid thought into your head I'm going to beat you for making us have this awkward conversation._

Finally, everyone returned, finished eating, and headed to their rooms to head down to the beach. As she was fixing to head to the elevator she noticed Tony and Steve talking. She faintly heard Tony say something about helping Steve with whatever plan he had to fix 'this'. Natasha almost wanted to laugh. _The dream team, right there. _

For some reason, she couldn't wait to see how Tony and Steve were going to screw up this apology.

* * *

And so here we go. Natasha can just tell that Steve and Tony are going to mess this up somehow, which they probably will. And what about Natasha's scars huh? She's had a rough life. No wonder she doesn't really want to talk about them. Even with what she did though does that make her as bad as Steve kinda implied she was? I don't really think so. Then there are some little hints that maybe she had some feelings for Steve, but really who'd want to act on them after what happened. Anyway next chapter will include a cookout, the hilarious antics of Sam, Tony, and Steve trying to fix a relationship, some tasty burgers, awkward silences, and HULK SMASH-ing some watermelons. So look for that in about 2-3 weeks. These next two weeks are going to be awfully busy for me so I may not get a new chapter up until 3 weeks, even though I really try to have one up in around two weeks. Oh well though. As always, reviews and constructive criticism are always appreciated! See y'all next chapter! ;D

Oh and thank you to RoxasGuyXIII, Mr. Invincible, sleeplessinbudapest, Angelalex242, MESPX13, Destined627, A Lost Sheep, Trollfacebeercules and the 2 guests for the reviews and constructive criticism. Also thanks to all who followed and favorited.


	5. Just Another Thought

**Author's Note: **Ok so I know I missed my deadline but I hope this extra long chapter will make up for it. I wrote this entire chapter on my phone while I was at the beach myself. Going there actually gave me good ideas for things to include in some later chapters! Anyway, as always I'm sorry if it's terrible or if anyone OOC. Here is Chapter 5: "Just Another Thought".

* * *

It rained after breakfast that day and continued until about lunchtime on the fourth day of vacation. The time went by painfully slow. Steve and Sam spent most of their time in the gym. On the first rainy day, Steve saw Natasha come down to workout but she quickly left when she spotted them. He hadn't seen her since.

During those two days he couldn't help but feel a little lonely. He didn't realize how much time they usually spent together until she was gone. But it gave him a lot of time to think about her and about his feelings for her.

Steve couldn't help keep thinking about what Sam had said, that it was clear that Steve was attracted to her, that Sam could see it so why couldn't he.

But even with all that he still wasn't totally sure of how he felt about Natasha. He kept thinking about her, kept missing her, kept wishing she would let him talk to her...but that was just him wanting his **friend** back, right?

Steve sighed and decided to start heading up to his room to get ready to head down to the beach since the rain had stopped. Maybe some fresh salty sea air will clear my head a little. He'd been trapped in the beach house too long; it was giving him to much time to think about her.

When Steve exited the elevator he saw Natasha opening the door to her room. _Thinking of Natasha..._ He had the urge to go over and talk to her, to apologize like he tried to on the elevator two mornings ago.

"Natasha," he began walking toward her.

She hesitated a moment before turning around. "Cap," she said, coldly.

It stung him that she didn't address him as Steve. But at least she wasn't just totally ignoring him this time. "Nat, we need to talk."

"I'm sorry but I've got to go get ready," she said.

"For?" asked Steve.

She gave him a playful smirk. "Why so curious?"

"N-no reason," he stuttered.

"Alright then. If you'll excuse me," she said turning back to her door.

Steve quickly grabbed her arm and turned her around then let go before she had time to kill him for it.

"Natasha, please hear me out. I really want to apologize for what I said I-" She cut him off.

"Look, I not really in the mood to hear this alright. A simple 'I'm sorry' isn't going to fix this," she said.

"Then what will, Nat?" he asked, a little agitated.

"I don't know. Figure something out. Impress me by showing me how sorry you really are. Now goodbye." With that she entered her room.

Steve stood there for a moment, unsure what to do. He knew he was stupid for what he said and he was truly, **truly** sorry. Why couldn't she understand that? He tried to tell her a hundred times. But maybe Natasha was right; words wouldn't work. He had to **show** her instead of tell her. He needed to call in some help.

It took only about five seconds for Tony to arrive, dragging Bruce along with him. Sam also joined them and they headed into Sam's room, their new base of operations.

Steve and Tony were like ice and fire. They came from completely different times, worked in completely different ways, and never really could seem to be totally in sync with each other. But for this they would have to be.

Tony paced the floor like an army general telling the rest of the group his plan of attack for Operation Apology.

"Alright men so Romanoff said she wants Rogers to prove how sorry he is by **showing** her. So we're you going to have to go big. Bigger than any apology I've ever had to give a woman before. It's got to be flashy, it's got to be fun, and it's got to be romantic!" shouted Tony.

Steve froze on that last part. Romantic? He was here to fix his and Natasha's friendship; he was still trying to sort out any other feeling he had for her.

"Stark, what's this about 'romantic'?" asked Steve.

"Rogers look when dealing with women they love romantic stuff. The kisses, the chocolates, the make-up sex: its all stuff that women enjoy, yes, even women like Natasha, I'm sure."

"Wait a minute, Stark, I'm trying to patch up my friendship with Natasha; we aren't romantically involved."

"No, but you want to be don't you?" asked Tony.

"I-I..." Steve didn't know what to say. He'd be wrestling with the question since Washington but never really thought to much on it until now. With all this happening it kept seeming to come up.

"Look, Rogers, we all can see it. You two want each other so bad but for some reason you both keep denying it," began Tony. "They way you to look at each other is different than how you look at everyone else, even your girl Peggy. You look at Natasha like their isn't anything like her, like she's amazing just when she's standing beside you. And she looks at you like she can trust you, like she's so happy to have you because you also trust her. But there is also a spark of something else when she looks at you. It's not friendly like it is with Clint; it's something more passionate. You want to know why a simple 'I'm sorry' hasn't worked, Rogers? Why she didn't just let it go, like she seems to do a lot of times when people say shit about her? Because **you** of all people told her that somewhere within her she was still bad and that's what she's fought more than anything not to ever hear again, especially from one of the few people in world that she trust. So we are going out there to give her the best apology that she has ever seen."

The room was silent. No one would ever expect Tony Stark to be the voice of wisdom in any of this mess but here he was telling Steve how everything was.

_Does she really look at me that way?_ He remembered her look at him in the bar. _"...Maybe"_ He could still feel her voice whispering to him.

Steve rubbed the bridge of his nose; he needed some more time to straighten all this out. "Stark, can we maybe...postpone this little show? I-I need to get a few things in order first."

Tony shook his head, "Sure, Rogers, take a day. We'll meet again to discuss this some more tomorrow."

"Thanks, Stark," he said running out the door.

However when he slammed the door open it collided with none other than Natasha.

"What the fuck?" she shouted as she stood up, holding onto her nose.

_Oh damn._ "Sorry" began Steve reaching to help her. He noticed that she was wearing a tight, long sleeve swim shirt and swim short bottoms that touched her just above the knee. _So she was getting ready to head to the beach._

She shrugged him away. "I'm fine." But he watched the blood drip from between the fingers of the hand on her nose.

"Here let me help you. I've got some Tylenol in my room," he said.

She stared at him a moment, looking like she was about to refuse, but after a frustrated sigh she followed him into his room.

He told her to sit down on the bed and he went into the bathroom for the Tylenol and a washcloth to wipe the blood off.

When he came back in the room he saw her say her looking at his compass on his nightstand. "I guess I forgot to put it on me earlier," he began and she jumped. He was surprised; it was hard to sneak up on the Black Widow.

He held up the cloth and medicine and wordlessly she walked over to the edge of the bed. "Alright give it," she said reaching out for the supplies.

"No, I'll do it," he began. "Take a seat on the bed."

'I'm not a child; I can do this myself," she said.

"It's easier if someone helps you," he replied.

"Well I don't need help."

"Not needing help and not wanting help are different things and I say you need help. Besides why did you come in here if you didn't want my help?"

"I just needed some Tylenol," she said.

"Don't you have some?" he asked.

She frowned. "Whatever." With that she took a seat in the edge of the bed.

He sat down on his knees in front of her so they would be eye to eye.

He stared into her eyes and remembered what Stark had said about her looking at him with a different spark in her eyes. He kept searching for that spark until she got agitated with him. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Steve blushed a bit. "J-just making sure you didn't have a concussion. Nope your good."

"I would hope so since it mostly hit my nose," she said, her hands still holding it.

"Right," he said. He reached up take her hands away from her nose. Before he could even brush her skin with his she quickly pulled them down and folded them in her lap.

He noticed it was starting to swell but it didn't look bad enough for a doctor. So he took the rag and gently began wiping the blood away. As he glided it across her nose, their eyes met. At first her eyes seemed full of something he couldn't make out before it quickly turned to annoyance. "Why do you keep staring at me?"

"I'm not," he said.

"Yes, you are," she countered.

_Can you blame me?_ He almost wanted to ask but bit his lip. Even with a swollen, bloody nose Natasha was something to see.

An awkward silence hung in the air. He hated it. Why did it feel like it was weeks ago since he felt normal around Natasha when really it had only been two days?

"Natasha," he began before she stopped him with a finger up to his mouth.

She leaned over toward him and for a moment he thought she was about to kiss him. She didn't however and a part of him almost felt disappointed.

Her red hair tickled his face, and her body was too close to him for comfort. Her breath was hot on his ear as she spoke. "You're still not forgiven yet," she whispered as she opened his hand and took the two Tylenol out of it.

With that she pushed away from him and headed out the door. He watched as she left and damn how he wished she hadn't.

Everything was getting too confusing around her too fast. But then again maybe it had always been like this a little. Like when they were on the escalator at the mall and she kissed him. She asked if it had made him uncomfortable and he said that that wasn't what he'd call it. He wanted to say it made him feel excited but he thought that would make things weird between them.

Or like when they were in Sam's room. He remembered how she looked at him as they talked, how relaxed, how connected they seemed.

Or when he'd push her against the hospital wall. It was the first time he'd really seen her surprised and he liked it.

Or when they were driving to the old S.H.E.I.L.D. base, when she'd been all flirty and joking with him about her being his first kiss in 70 years.  
Then when she asked him what he wanted her to be. And he'd said a friend.

Now though it was like he wanted her to maybe be a bit more. Maybe Tony was right. Maybe he didn't want to just repair his friendship. Maybe he wanted to make their relationship something more.

Steve stood up and walked over to pick up his compass. He stroked Peggy's picture with his thumb._ My girl..._ He stared at the phone by his bed. He picked it up and dialed.

Sharon answered. "Sharon Carter."

"Hey Sharon," he said.

"Oh hey Steve. Didn't expect you to be calling. I thought you were in vacation."

"I am but, uh, I was really needing to talk to her if she's, you know, here."

"Lucky for you she is. Today is a pretty good day. I'm glad. Here I'll put her on."

Steve waited a minute and then heard her voice. "Steve?" she asked.

"Yeah its me, Peggy," he said with a sad smile. He hated hearing how weak she sounded.

"Sharon said you were on vacation. Are you having fun?"

"Yeah," he said, thinking about Natasha, "its going...good."

"Steve I know when you lie. What's the matter?" she asked.

Steve hesitated before continuing. "Peggy...when everyone thought I died...you knew I wanted you to move on right?"

There was silence for a moment and he was afraid that she was about to forget everything. "Yes I did. That's why I married and went on in life...but you still carried a special place in my heart, Steve. You still do."

That made Steve smile a little. "Peggy...I want you to know that you will always have a special place in my heart too. You'll always be my girl. But I-"

She cut him off. "Steve, I hope you two will love each other like me and my husband did. I hope you get to dance many dances with her too. I want you to know I'm not mad because you've gotten a second chance. Actually I've been wondering when you would finally come to your senses."

They both laughed. "Thanks, Peggy. Speaking of dances, you know I still owe you one."

"Collect it from me after you've danced a bit with her. I can wait. I have for 70 years. Maybe she can't if you want to get her."

Steve thought about it. Peggy was right. He needed to patch things up with Natasha and the sooner the better. Certainly before this vacation was over.  
"Yeah, you're right Peggy. Thanks."

Just before he could hang up Peggy asked one more question. "Steve, forgive me for prying but might this be about that red headed agent that you told me about before? Romanoff."

"How did you know?" he asked, surprised.

"From the way you talk about her. Its different than how you talk about anyone else. And the look in your eyes when you do. Steve, I must say you that even in 70 years your taste in women didn't really change much. Always picking we tough agent women."

Steve smiled. Sam had said the same thing. "Well what better women are there? Besides you stuck to a soldier."

Peggy chuckled. "You got me there."

Steve smiled and knew Peggy was smiling too. "Good luck getting your girl," she said before hanging up the phone.

Steve gave a small smile. He had feelings for Natasha Romanoff and tomorrow he would try to go get his girl. But today, he was going to head to the beach.

When Steve got to the beach, he saw Fury and Maria at Tony's outdoor grilling area, getting the burgers ready for the lunch cookout, Pepper on the phone, and Clint, Tony, Sam, and Bruce resting by the cooler.

He was surprised that he didn't see Natasha down there yet. She should've been down there by now. She'd left before him. But maybe she decided not to come down with her nose.

"Natasha not come down yet?" he asked.

Clint answered. "Nope. Oh wait, no, here she comes."

Steve looked over and saw her heading down from the beach house. He noticed she had an ice pack in her hand.

Tony whistled as she approached. "Look at you, Romanoff. Though why not a bikini, hmm?"

She smirked. "Only in your dreams, Stark."

"When did we get a mind reader on the team?" he asked.

"Tony!" shouted Pepper.

Everyone laughed as Tony apologized to Pepper.

Steve noticed Natasha talking to Clint and then she glared at him. _I guess they're talking about her nose_. Steve ducked away and headed to the ocean to swim for a bit before Fury and Maria finished cooking.

As he swam he thoughts of Natasha kept clouding his mind. He couldn't stop thinking about it; he finally admitted to himself that he had feelings for her.

But then another thought came into his head. What if she didn't feel the same about him? Sure people like Tony and Sam said that Natasha seemed to like him but that wasn't the feeling he was getting lately, though maybe that was just because she was mad. Maybe when he apologized and told her how he felt, she'd tell him she felt the same.

Bur what if she didn't? What if she just wanted to be friends with him? Would he screw it all up telling her?

Then again what if she didn't even accept his apology? Surely though she would. But she had been ignoring him for two days and didn't seem to thrilled to talk to him this morning. And he did screw up royally with what he said.

He remembered what Tony said. _You of all people told her that somewhere within her she was still bad and that's what she's fought more than anything not to ever hear again._

He sighed as he swam back to shore. Why were relationships so complicated?

About the time that Steve got back to the shore, Fury yelled that lunch was ready.

Everyone grabbed a nice warm burger and sat down on the soft sand to eat.

"Mmm, this is a tasty burger," said Stark.

"Stole my line, Stark," said Fury, "But they are good if I do say so myself."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Maybe we can have Hulk smash us a watermelon. Huh, Bruce?" asked Tony.

"Tony, I'm not sure that's a good idea," replied Bruce.

"Come on Bruce," began Tony, "I have faith in your control. And if you get out of hand I've got just the suit to fix it."

"I don't think your little suits could keep the other guy down," said Bruce, standing and heading over to the watermelons.

"This isn't really a small suit. I think it could really bust the Hulk."

"Alright Tony if you say so," began Bruce, taking a deep breath. "Ok here goes."

"Remember don't necessarily smash them but just give them a good strong tap so they break into equal pieces. Like Suikawari."

"Like what?" asked Sam.

"Suikawari. Its a Japanese game where they have to split open a watermelon with a stick, similar to breaking a piñata," replied Tony, "It's usually pla-"

The shout of "Hulk smash watermelon!" cut him off and about the time Tony turned around to tell Bruce to be gentle a piece of watermelon splattered onto the side of Tony's face.

"Well there goes dessert," said Clint, trying to hold in a laugh. But he couldn't stop it and then everyone was joining in on the laughing.

Bruce returned from his Hulk form and looked at the smashed watermelon and Tony's face. He couldn't help but laugh too. "Sorry, Tony, but I did warn you. Do you really think of the other guy was going to be gentle?"

"See if I'm gentle when I get a hold of you!" said Tony, wiping watermelon off his face. He then jumped up and started chasing Bruce down the beach. More laughter erupted from the group and Steve was glad for the humor. His mind had been racing all day and so the laughter and fun felt nice.

Tomorrow may or may not feel as nice.

* * *

Well, now we've really moved along some. I decided to kinda skip us ahead a little in the vacation because I didn't want to just give us a whole chapters were it's literally just Steve thinking about his feelings. So that's why at the beginning of this he's already had time to think about them for about two days and finally on this day he's REALLY thinking about them and comes to the conclusion that he does indeed like Natasha in a romantic sense. So now he's going to go get his girl! And he's got Sam, Tony, and now Bruce and even Peggy (along with all of us of course) to cheer him on and help him. Speaking of Peggy what about that? I think that Peggy is the kind of person who would want Steve to accept his second chance in the world and would want him to find someone who loves him like she did with her husband. That someone for Steve is Natasha of course and speaking of Natasha she sure does know how to tease Steve, doesn't she? Now I think I gave you all everything I promised, except the hilarious antics of Sam, Tony, Bruce, and Steve trying to fix a relationship (that'll be more in the chapter after next). The next chapter is similar with what I did in chapter 4 were it's things from Natasha's point of view so I'm sorry that we don't move on time wise again. I'll try to have it up within 3 weeks. As always, reviews and constructive criticism are always appreciated! See y'all next chapter! ;D (Oh and a gold star to anyone who can tell me what movie I'm alluding to when when Fury says Stark stole his line by saying ""Mmm, this is a tasty burger.")

Oh and thank you to RushmanNatalie, Destined627, Lawlady562, sleeplessinbudapest, MESPX13, RoxasGuyXIII, A Lost Sheep, JuliaE.k5, MF 22 and the 1 guest for the reviews and constructive criticism. Also thanks to all who followed and favorited.


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